DEMENTIAS (DEMENŢELE)

„Casa Cărţii de ştiinţă” Publishing House, Cluj Napoca, 2013

198 pages, ISBN 978-606-17-0400-2

Dementias are probably one of the fewest subjects in medical literature who had receive increased attention, but the complexity of the phenomenon still impose further studies and publication. ”Demenţele” by Horia Coman is a compact publication, well documented, with an updated bibliography, whose main purpose is to clarify and brings some light for this umbrella term of Dementias.

By addressing this topic an important public health problem is in the focus of discussion. Dementias are a concern impacting on many areas such as medical and psychology field, social work and ethical issues, but not limited to them.

Using his extended experience in the domain of diagnosis and treatment for various types of dementias, acquired during the work years as a psychiatrist, the author underlie his paper on a vast variety of well selected bibliographic resources such as books, scientific articles, clinical trials reports and most extensive on meta-analysis.

The book is valuable not only through his topic but also because is written in Romanian language, filling a gap of newly updated information about dementia in this language especially for Romanian auditorium with poor access to English literature.

Structured on 10 chapters the book has an integrative approach presenting in the beginning the nosology and epidemiologic data of dementias, followed by biological mechanisms that explain the different types of the disease, assessment tools and instruments for diagnosis and subsequent regress or progress evaluations, actual treatment plans, future therapy for improvement and even possible disorders healing strategies. Each chapter subject is discussed in accordance with the forth

major category of dementia: Alzheimer disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy body, frontal type dementia. The pathogenesis aspect of dementias covered in the fifth chapter includes documented explanation with clarifying images.

The risk factors for dementia are address in the chapter four, but also the protective factors are brought in discussion in the end of the book.

The clinical manifestations for each type of dementias, covered in the chapter six of the book, are meant to bring some enlightening in understanding what really this diagnosis represents, not only from the medical point of view but also from the human one, as long as in most of the cases the diagnosis impact profoundly with the quality of life, both for person with dementias or families of them. This chapter becomes a useful resource for physicians, psychologist, caregivers, being a faithful mirror of the dementias manifestation.

Even though it is an uninviting topic main due the disease prognostic and expectations, the author success in giving some hope. The new approach such Alzheimer immunotherapy, especially the passive one, described in the last chapter of the book, seems to be the future cure for dementias.

As a psychiatrist the author underline the connection between dementias and psychiatrics manifestations such as psychoses, depression, sleep disturbance, and much more.

The book is written in a structured manner that allows the reader easy follow the text and information, becoming a good informational resource for the Dementias research field. (Doina Cosman)